Explosions and Dust
by x Lost Hero x
Summary: He wants to protect her but she ends up protecting him. Tiva, two-shot.
1. Protecting Her

**Just a two shot I thought of when given the two words (by two different people, might I add) explode and dust. I do not own NCIS...

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**Bombs always exploded. It was a part of the job. They had to get used to the fact that there was a chance that a bomb could explode at moment at a crime scene. Who knows what the killer set up before leaving their victim for NCIS to find?

And that's why Tony had to protect her. He could let her get hurt while they were on the job. He loved her way too much to let her get hurt by a bomb exploding. Tony had to admit that Ziva was really good at keeping her cool while disarming the bombs.

In the five years that Tony had known Ziva, he had grown to love her. She was everything he was looking for in a woman, even though he didn't know it at the time. She was smart, she was strong, she was independent, and she was a good listener. Tony started to fall in love with her, and he couldn't help himself. That was why he had to protect her at all costs; he couldn't lose the woman he loved.

It was a good thing that Ziva knew how to disable bombs. DiNozzo didn't have to worry too much about the bombs exploding on them and Ziva getting hurt too much. It still made his heart race, though, when there was a bomb around. Tony didn't know what he would do without Ziva.

And that was why he held his breath that day. He had heard her screaming his name, and then the next thing he knew, she was on top of him, tackling him to the ground. Tony rolled on top of her so she would be protected, but as soon as the explosion was over, she moved so she was straddling him once more.

Tony wanted to kiss her then. Ziva was safe; she was okay. He couldn't, though. They were working. It would be unprofessional if he did that, let alone the fact that Gibbs would get mad at them. The dust rose around the couple and Ziva was blinking her eyes and staring down at Tony.

"You okay?"

He nodded, looking into her brown eyes. "Yeah. You?" he asked.

She nodded in turn and did not make any effort to move off of Tony. "Yes. I am fine."

Then Ziva got off of Tony and helped him up, grabbing his hand. Both partners made their way through the dust, to figure out what had happened.

Tony watched Ziva the whole entire time. He didn't really care about the case or what was going on anymore; he was just glad that she was okay.


	2. The Aftermath

**Here is the second chapter. Thank you for the reviews. I don't own NCIS...

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**After the dust has subsided, they investigated what had happened. Then they went back to headquarters and continued working, almost as if nothing too crazy had happened.

It was during the aftermath that Tony started thinking. He snuck glances at Ziva, making sure that she really was okay. She was continuously coughing, and Tony hoped that nothing had happened to her.

He followed her out of headquarters and got into his car. DiNozzo put himself on autopilot and the next thing he knew, he was parked in front of Ziva's apartment complex. With heavy feet, unsure of what he was exactly doing, Tony headed up to her apartment.

DiNozzo wasn't sure what he was going to say; he wasn't sure what he was going to do when she answered the door. Slowly, his hand knocked on the door and he stood there, holding his breath, waiting for Ziva to answer.

Finally, she did. Her brown eyes searched his own hazel eyes, and she tried to figure out why he was standing there without uttering a word. She couldn't do it though. "Tony, why are you here?" she softly asked, her eyes moving to his lips.

"I just wanted to make sure you were alright. And I," he paused, looking down at her. "I wanted to thank you for tackling me and...er, well, protecting me."

Ziva laughed slightly and then grabbed his hand, pulling him inside. Tony thanking her was definitely something new. Maybe she would have to do it, protect him, more often. She shut the door and then pulled him over to the couch, her eyes watching his face the entire time.

Tony looked back at her, glancing down at their entwined fingers for a quick moment. It was now or never. The aftermath of the events of the day could be good or bad. Frankly, Tony wanted them to be good. So, he took a chance.

Squeezing her hand gently, Tony kissed Ziva's lips. His free hand moved to cup her cheek, and the senior field agent pulled Ziva closer to him.

Ziva kissed him back, not wanting to pull away. Maybe she would have to protect him more often after all.


End file.
